The first foreign rescuers flew in to help after the North African country's strongest-ever quake killed at least 2,012 people and injured more than 2,000, many seriously, according to the official figures. Friday's 6.8-magnitude quake struck 72 km southwest of the tourist hub of Marrakesh, wiping out entire villages in the hills of the Atlas mountains. Amid the debris, civilian rescuers and members of Morocco's armed forces searched for survivors and the bodies of the dead. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country in 2020 established ties with Morocco, offered to send search-and-rescue teams, declaring that "Israel stands by Morocco in its difficult time". The quake was the deadliest in Morocco since a 1960 earthquake destroyed Agadir and killed more than 12,000 people.
